2016 Nissan Leaf SV - changes from 2015 SV, fog lights&auto on-off headlights possible?

Hello everyone,

as someone who is interested in a 2016 Nissan Leaf SV because of the longer range (107 mile vs. 85 mile) over the 2015 SV, I also noticed these two shortcomings of the 2016 SV:
- no fog lights (available as part of the "LED Headlights + Quick Charge Port" package on 2015 SV)
- no automatic on/off headlights (available as part of the "LED Headlights + Quick Charge Port" package on 2015 SV)

Is there any way to still get these things, like as a dealer-installed option, aftermarket install or to install it oneself?

Back then, I read the threads about how people on the 2013 Nissan Leaf S, that did not have the backup camera, changed their car themselves to get the rear view camera.

I think I also saw threads about changing the fog lights.

Still, in case it's known to people here in the forum that those things definitely won't be able to be done, then that would also be helpful to know.

And here is a 2015/2016 SV comparison list I made that might be helpful to others as well.

2016 SV advantages:
2016: standard quick charge port - 2015: only part of "LED Headlights + Quick Charge Port" package
2016: 107 mile EPA range - 2015: 84 mile EPA range
2016: Li-ion battery pack warranty 8 years or 100,000 miles against excessive capacity loss - 2015: 5 years or 60,000 miles
2016: Bio Suede PET Material - 2015: Partially recycled cloth seat fabric
2016: HD Radio - 2015: no HD Radio

2016 SV disadvantages (besides no fog lights & no automatic on/off headlights on 2016 SV):
2015: Rear heated seats - 2016: no rear heated seats
2015: Pandora link for iPhone - 2016 no Pandora link for iPhone
2015: LED Headlights available with "LED Headlights + Quick Charge Port" package - 2016: not available
2015: EPA Estimated Fuel Economy City 126 MPGe - 2016: City 124 MPGe
2015: EPA Estimated Fuel Economy Combined 114 MPGe - 2016: City 112 MPGe
2015: SV $32,100 + "LED + Quick Charge" Package $1,630 = $33,730 total - 2016: SV $34,200 (so $470 more expensive)

If you are looking to buy and not lease then the better capacity warranty on the 2016 by itself easily compensates for all the shortcomings listed.

I think you have to get the SL to get the automatic, LED headlights. Kinda scummy how they did that, but it will probably work on me. Besides, I've never had a car with leather, so I'll get to see if I like that at all.

2016: Bio Suede PET Material - 2015: Partially recycled cloth seat fabric

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We'll see if this is really a difference, and if the PET stuff smells any better than the current recycled plastic.

Valdemar said:

If you are looking to buy and not lease then the better capacity warranty on the 2016 by itself easily compensates for all the shortcomings listed.

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Thank you for your reply. Looking to lease, and then likely purchase at end of lease. Let's see if it happens, meaning, if the 2016 SV comes to the dealerships soon enough.

pkulak said:

I think you have to get the SL to get the automatic, LED headlights. Kinda scummy how they did that, but it will probably work on me. Besides, I've never had a car with leather, so I'll get to see if I like that at all.

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Thank you for your response. I know the 2016 SL does have all of these three things, that were still available on the 2015 SV with the LED + Quick Charge package, and will now be completely unavailable on the 2016 SV:
- LED headlights
- automatic on/off lights
- fog lights

My situation is that we can't have leather. So the SL was always out of the question. With the 2015 SV, at least automatic on/off was an option. Not having to even deal with turning off and on lights but always leaving it on "auto" was very nice. The LED headlights instead of halogen is not as big of a deal. As far as I read, the LED headlights use roughly 27 Watts, while halogen headlights use 108 Watts. So, when driving for one hour in the dark, it's 0.081kWh more energy consumption. That shouldn't have such a big impact on range. Fog lights might be nice to have though in the fog...

LeftieBiker said:

2016: Bio Suede PET Material - 2015: Partially recycled cloth seat fabric

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We'll see if this is really a difference, and if the PET stuff smells any better than the current recycled plastic.

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With the 2015 SVs I experienced, I just noticed the typical Nissan Leaf new car smell. It did not smell bad to me, but of course that can appear different to everyone. It would be fine for me if the smell of the car stayed exactly the same.

With the 2015 SVs I experienced, I just noticed the typical Nissan Leaf new car smell. It did not smell bad to me, but of course that can appear different to everyone. It would be fine for me if the smell of the car stayed exactly the same.

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If the smell of the 2015 cloth upholstery is the same as the 2013, it is a big issue for anyone with any sort of sensitivity to chemical "out-gas." Mine made me queasy for the whole first year I drove it. My housemate's Prius (PHEV) is even worse, though...

I don't remember having any nauseating odors in my 2011, but it's been a while.

The lack of the LED headlight option on the 16SV is disappointing as they have considerably better light output (and better color) than the halogen units.

asimba2 said:

The lack of the LED headlight option on the 16SV is disappointing as they have considerably better light output (and better color) than the halogen units.

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Yes, the LED lights are indeed nicer. Still, just in my case, as leather seats are out of the question, so is the SL trim, and there is also nothing really that I would miss out of the SL trim features except for those LED lights, automatic on/off, and fog lights. But now with the 2016 SV model they are not even available anymore as an option. I understand Nissan's desire to reduce the number of variants they have to produce in the factory, and thus get rid of the LED & Quick Charge package for the SV. At the same time, I think it's a pity that LED/auto on-off/fog lights are not available anymore except for in the SL trim. Well, I guess only time will tell if there is some kind of dealer installed or aftermarket solution, or a do-it-yourself possibility...

LookingFor2016Leaf said:

Yes, the LED lights are indeed nicer. Still, just in my case, as leather seats are out of the question, so is the SL trim, and there is also nothing really that I would miss out of the SL trim features except for those LED lights, automatic on/off, and fog lights.

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Wait... you're okay with giving up the solar panel that theoretically charges the 12v battery?

I understand Nissan's desire to reduce the number of variants they have to produce in the factory, and thus get rid of the LED & Quick Charge package for the SV. At the same time, I think it's a pity that LED/auto on-off/fog lights are not available anymore except for in the SL trim. Well, I guess only time will tell if there is some kind of dealer installed or aftermarket solution, or a do-it-yourself possibility...

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As more wrecked 2013 SVs become available, it might be possible to add those options as used parts - QC excluded, of course.

pkulak said:

LookingFor2016Leaf said:

Yes, the LED lights are indeed nicer. Still, just in my case, as leather seats are out of the question, so is the SL trim, and there is also nothing really that I would miss out of the SL trim features except for those LED lights, automatic on/off, and fog lights.

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Wait... you're okay with giving up the solar panel that theoretically charges the 12v battery?

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Yes, the solar panel is a feature I can live without. Still, why does it only charge the 12 Volt battery "theoretically"? Doesn't it actually make electricity flow to the 12 Volt battery when the sun shines?

LookingFor2016Leaf said:

Yes, the solar panel is a feature I can live without. Still, why does it only charge the 12 Volt battery "theoretically"? Doesn't it actually make electricity flow to the 12 Volt battery when the sun shines?

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The uncertainty comes, I think, from the fact that the solar panel delivers such a tiny amount of power to the 12V battery, compared to what's consumed by the car's normal on-state loads. But while the panel is inadequate to charge the 12V battery, I think it's just the thing to maintain the battery.

A little browsing of this forum's pages will turn up quite a lot of discussions of what is perceived to be failure of he LEAF's DC-to-DC converter to apply a high enough float voltage to its 12V battery to keep it from degrading by becoming sulphated. And to read the discussions, this results in a tendency for the battery voltage to suddenly drop or brown out, which can produce any erratic behavior of car systems imaginable, just short of spraying chocolate syrup out of the auxiliary phone jack. Complete details are typically not provided by these reports, but I've noticed that very few, if any, of the folks suffering these 12V system failures have solar panels on their LEAFs. My theory is that Nissan's left hand designed the LEAF's DC-DC converter to depend on the solar panel for battery maintenance, without knowing that Nissan's right hand was removing that solar panel from most trim levels. Just guessing, of course.

Levenkay said:

A little browsing of this forum's pages will turn up quite a lot of discussions of what is perceived to be failure of he LEAF's DC-to-DC converter to apply a high enough float voltage to its 12V battery to keep it from degrading by becoming sulphated. And to read the discussions, this results in a tendency for the battery voltage to suddenly drop or brown out, which can produce any erratic behavior of car systems imaginable, just short of spraying chocolate syrup out of the auxiliary phone jack. Complete details are typically not provided by these reports, but I've noticed that very few, if any, of the folks suffering these 12V system failures have solar panels on their LEAFs.

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Thank you for this information. Tried to read around a little bit on MyNissanLeaf, still did not come across the 12V battery failures yet. Good to know. (I liked the part about the chocolate syrup. )

Levenkay said:

My theory is that Nissan's left hand designed the LEAF's DC-DC converter to depend on the solar panel for battery maintenance, without knowing that Nissan's right hand was removing that solar panel from most trim levels. Just guessing, of course.

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At least that seems like a very good theory. Of course it will probably always be impossible to prove the theory right or wrong. Also, thinking about it, even the initial Japanese 2011 models did not have the solar panel as standard, so shouldn't it have been known then that even in the first model year, not all cars will have the solar panel and be able to depend on it? Still, sure, who knows, maybe it was just like you said.

I can't seem to find an appropriate topic, so I'll just ask a semi-related question here: can anyone tell me if the leather interior on the SL out-gasses horribly like the cloth interior in the SV? I have no desire for leather, but if I get offered a good lease on a 2015 SL, I might consider seat covers, assuming the dealer won't swap seats with an SV on the lot. This would be a more appealing option if I knew I was getting a car that didn't reek of rubber/plastic for the first year...

The 12 volt solar charger is a nonsense option that they charge you a lot for it... It is only to keep the 12 volt battery topped off. I have for years been using on all of my cars a solar battery charger from harborfreight that I kept fastened to the dashboard with double sided tape. It keeps all batteries fully charged no matter how much air conditioning, heat, lights, or accessories you use. also, it keeps cars that are not used much fully charged for months at a time. Take a look at this link.

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-watt-solar-battery-charger-68692.html

LookingFor2016Leaf said:

... I understand Nissan's desire to reduce the number of variants they have to produce in the factory, and thus get rid of the LED & Quick Charge package for the SV. ...

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I do not understand their excessive zeal for reducing options and thereby failing to offer what the customer wants.

To link all the options to SL and then offer it only with Black leather seats is insane.

Harkens back to the days of the Ford Model T.

Offered only in Black :?

powersurge said:

The 12 volt solar charger is a nonsense option that they charge you a lot for it... It is only to keep the 12 volt battery topped off. I have for years been using on all of my cars a solar battery charger from harborfreight that I kept fastened to the dashboard with double sided tape. It keeps all batteries fully charged no matter how much air conditioning, heat, lights, or accessories you use. also, it keeps cars that are not used much fully charged for months at a time. Take a look at this link.

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-watt-solar-battery-charger-68692.html

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You'd have to hardwire a solar trickle charger to the car's wiring, or rewire a power outlet circuit to be always on. Otherwise the charging will only occur while the car is running. This would be especially useless if the solar panel has to be removed from the window to drive the car.